Results of an empirical study of certain semantic aspects of metaphorical competences of foreign students of a Russian university

Introduction. As a part of a research project aimed at improving the formation of metaphorical competence in the study of Russian as a foreign language by students of a Russian university, the goal was set to explore the semantic aspects of the metaphorical competence already available to such students.

Materials and methods. With the help of specially formed diagnostic tasks based on a fixed set of metaphorical expressions of certain types, it was determined in which areas of metaphorical transfer foreign students are quite competent and which areas they need improvement. The study took into account the previously obtained results of evaluating which metaphorical expressions are presented in three popular training courses in Russian as a foreign language: «Doroga v Rossiyu», «Poekhali» and «Zhili-Byli».

Results and discussion. According to the results obtained, the individual specifics of a single course of study does not have a decisive influence on the nature of the formed metaphorical competence of a student. It has been established that metaphorical expressions with the transfer of specific features, such as weight, age, spatial characteristics to the activities, objects and people, including parts of the human body, are successfully recognized and used by foreign students of Russian universities. It has also been established that metaphorical expressions with the transfer of attributes to abstractions, such as «information», «set», «concept», «event», «emotions» and «phenomenon», are recognized and used by foreign students with a lesser degree of success.

Conclusion. Based on the results of the study, thematic areas of metaphorical transfers were identified for further research, including experimental work.

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